It's (Probably) Not Rocket Science show logo

Detained and Dismissed

Season 3
Episode #2
Spotify logo

A new study from The University of New Mexico’s ⁠Institute for Social Research⁠ shows nearly half of all people held in jail on a granted pretrial detention motion until their trial is not being convicted in Bernalillo County. According to the October 2024 study, ⁠”Bernalillo County Second Judicial Court Preventive Detention Motion Review⁠,” approximately 43% of people whose cases were granted a pretrial detention motion ultimately have their cases dismissed. In this episode of It’s Probably Not Rocket Science, lead researcher Paul Guerin joins us to talk about the findings and why he says this is a problem.

About Our Guest(s)

Paul Guerin

Paul Guerin, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Applied Research and Analysis (CARA). He has worked at The University of New Mexico’s Institute for Social Research since 1992. Guerin’s primary teaching areas have been criminology, policing, and corrections, with an emphasis on the criminal justice system, the evaluation of criminal justice programs and behavioral health programs, homelessness, early childhood home visiting, traffic safety, and DWI and alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes. He has been the Principal Investigator or researcher on more than 150 research and evaluation projects at UNM.

Hosted by UCAM's Alexa Skonieski

Carly Bowling headshot

From podcast listener to podcast host, Alexa Skonieski is a university communication representative on The University of New Mexico’s Communication and Marketing team (UCAM). She’s thrilled to spread the word on important research coming out of UNM, New Mexico’s flagship university. In addition to producing It’s (Probably) Not Rocket Science, she writes stories and creates videos for the UNM Newsroom, the university’s official communication platform.

Skonieski is a graduate of Central Michigan University’s School of Communication, Journalism, and Media (’19). She is a former news reporter/anchor who worked at TV stations in Michigan, Nebraska, and most recently in New Mexico at KRQE News 13, where she won a New Mexico Broadcasters Association award. She is passionate about academic research and wants its topics to be understandable and accessible to everyone. People should know the important role UNM plays. She hopes you’ll subscribe to the show and follow along!